Man allegedly faked death to escape kidnappers and exposed murder suspect

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (WKRC) – A man allegedly played dead to escape kidnappers who murdered a teenager and later helped police identify them.

According to reports, officers found the body of 19-year-old Alexis Jose Vegas near a ditch on the side of a highway in San Antonio around 3:30 p.m. on July 1 KSAT. Police said the body had multiple gunshot wounds and that there were bullet casings and zip ties near the victim.

Despite the ongoing investigation, officials struggled to find out more about Vegas’ killer until a new lead emerged. Authorities learned that a man was in the hospital as a result of an armed robbery that had occurred just hours before Vegas’ death. It was said that the man was initially “not forthcoming” with the police KENSbut finally opened.

The unidentified man admitted to police that he was in Vegas at the time of his murder and that the couple had been kidnapped and forced into a car by three armed assailants KENS.

The affidavit of KENS said, “While seated in the suspect’s vehicle, Witness 1 stated that the suspect in the passenger seat had a firearm pointed at him throughout the entire ordeal. He was able to describe the location where the suspect vehicle stopped, which was consistent with the crime scene.”

The man told police that the kidnappers stopped the car and told him and Vegas to get out, at which point they shot both of them. Vegas was fatally wounded, but the unnamed witness said he played dead until the kidnappers left KENS.

When presented with a number of suspects, the witness identified 29-year-old Eiber Gabriel Sira-Vargas as one of the kidnappers.

Sira-Vargas was arrested and is charged with aggravated kidnapping with a deadly weapon and aggravated murder by terroristic threat or other crime.